Police station: closed to public

CASINO police station could be closed to the public for up to three days a week and officers forced off the beat and put behind desks if a move to axe an administrative position succeeds, Clarence MP Steve Cansdell has warned.

The move to axe the station's only administrative assistant is part of a State Government cost-cutting exercise, which will also see the Lismore police station lose an administration position.

It is understood the Casino position has been targeted because the Casino police station is manned 24 hours a day only three days a week.

Mr Cansdell has written to NSW Police Minister Tony Kelly begging him to reconsider the decision, which he has described as an attack on frontline police services and a retrograde step.

“If that general administrative support officer's position is taken away, the police will have to do all the work that the administrative assistant is now doing and more than likely the station will be closed three days a week,” he said.

“That person currently handles counter and phone inquires, minor correspondence and checks people reporting on bail, as well as preparing all the court papers for local court sittings.”

Mr Cansdell said that if the position was axed, police would have to close the station more often when they went out on jobs.

Lismore Police Association branch administrator Matt Kehoe said the loss of the administration position at the Casino police station would have a huge impact on local policing.

He said it would 'drastically reduce the amount of time the police station could stay open to the public' and force police off the streets and back into the station to complete paperwork and other duties currently done by the administrative assistant.

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